Marvelous Victory

When we were studying Your Jesus is Too Safe by Jared Wilson, one of the topics we covered was the Compassionate Jesus. The Jesus who looks at the crowd and is pained by what he sees. But he doesn’t stop there. Christ had such a pain from looking at the needs of the crowd he was moved to action. And that is what compassion is; doing something to try to help. It is not just feeling bad for someone. It is looking at a lost, hungry, or hurting person in need and doing something to provide them with relief.

We as believers are called to show that kind of compassion. It is the same compassion that Jesus has for us. Jeff reminded our church on Sunday the promise of blessing that God has for those who show compassion. “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” --Matthew 25:35-36

Stop feeling. Start doing!

The historian Howard Zinn said the following words about going beyond just seeing the bad in this world and trying to do something to make it better. I believe this thought can be applied to what we are called to do in Christ’s name.

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. --Howard Zinn